PROS:

- REDUCED HUNGER! I am SO much less hungry having one meal a day as opposed to the 4-6 I would have on an average day! If I ever missed one of my smaller, more frequent meals, I would turn into a raging, angry beast! So I never thought this sort of eating would be sustainable, but the lack of hunger is nothing short of a miracle!

- The prep work!! OMG!!! The dishes, pans, pots, tupperware, cooking, cleaning… SLASHED! I LOVE IT!

CONS:

- I get dizzy when I stand up too quickly - I have always had this problem, but it seems to be a greater issue with the fasting.

- I don’t eat as many veggies as I would like (2 cups/day versus 6 cups) because of their volume to calorie ratio. I am thinking of cooking up my spinach so it’s not quite as filling. Anyone have a good spinach recipe for me?

That’s it for now. I am planning on doing IF for the next 3.5 weeks. Whenever I have a social obligation, I will move the eating window to whenever the event takes place! I’m interested to see how my body composition and strength responds to these changes in eating windows, as well as the Keto.

I am supplementing with the following:

- Xtend

- Orange Triad Multivitamin/Joint Support/Digestive Enzymes

- Fish Oil

- Krill Oil

If anyone has ever experiemented with IF, I would love to hear about your experience, both positive and negative!

I must renege on a goal I had previously stated I would do at the end of August - the one about putting up a full progress picture. LOL. Yes yes, roll your eyes at me. I haven’t pushed myself hard enough in my workouts, and when I look at myself, I do NOT see progress. So NO PROGRESS PICTURE! But, I am making some changes so I can expect different results! I am doing a keto (SKD) style diet right now. The macro breakdown of this diet is 65f/30p/5c. Mine is slightly modified to allow for more cruciferous vegetables, so it’s more like 60f/25f/15c. My carb sources are spinach, green beans, brocolli, and the minimal amounts from eggs, hard/soft cheeses, and other miscellaneous contributors.

It’s been 10 days since I started this diet, and I LOVE IT!!!!!!! I have TONS of energy! I don’t crave carbs at ALL! Which is a HUGE thing for me because words cannot describe how much I simply ADORE my CHO’s! I am also finding it MUCH easier to eat socially  without feeling like a leper. WOOHOO! I will be eating this way at least until the end of October - possibly longer depending on how I feel. Some people do carb-ups on this diet (12-36 hour period where you fill up on carbs). I’m still on the fence about this, so until I see a ‘need’ for it, I’m just going to continue with the macros that I have. Sooooo… maybe a progress picture at the end of October. Maybe I’ll have actual PROGRESS to show by then!

I’d love to hear from anyone who has also gone through a similar type of diet and what sorts of results/experiences they had!

 Yes, things rather SUCK right now, but I’m going to come out of this little life lesson a champion. My workouts are strong, my diet’s GREAT, and while I am a little behind schedule in my goals, I’ll get there.

I will be a little absent from the website for the next little while, but I’ll be back soon! I’ll miss you guys, and I’ll catch up on your lives as soon as I can. Until there, here is a picture of me and one of the loves in my life!

I want to be on auto-pilot awesome eating, so I am taking the next two weeks to really dedicate myself to making my eating immaculate. I will be playing ‘mother’ to my baby cousin and her best friend soon - they will be flying up from Calgary to visit, and I want them to experience my workouts, as well as a bit of what it’s like to eat clean! Of course, they need to try some of the amazing food that Texas has to offer as well. LOL. So that’ll be fun. They are 15. A small part of me is dreading this trip because I am afraid that I will be the very boring, old cousin who keeps saying shit like, "When I was your age…" and "We didn’t do it like that when I was…", and that the minute I turn around, they’ll roll their eyes and whisper how relieved they are that I’m gone. HAHAHAHAHAHA!! We’ll see how that goes.

 Workouts are strong, but I think I’ll come a few workouts shy of my projected 22 for July. I had the one oreo shake, and a bite of stuff here and there, but overall, I think eating has gone well. Yay!

1) Read the webpages I’ve bookmarked about emotional eating. 2) Journal about why I am upset. 3) Distract myself with a movie, Grey’s Anatomy (I LOVE THAT SHOW!), or shopping. 4) Allow myself to have celery sticks/carrots. 5) Remind myself that having junk will NOT make me feel better. 6) Tell someone in person that I want to emotionally eat and deal with their response.

Let’s see how this goes. I don’t get the urge to emotionally eat very often, but the times that I have, I don’t like it. No sireeeeee. So it’s going to stop. I will put this plan into place, and tweak it to make it work each time for me.

After my oreo shake, I felt really horrible, but had already decided that I would not continue to let it happen, so I went through with those above steps. Step 3 involves distraction, and I bought myself a completely STUNNING pair of Mac Jacobs boots. They are sinfully pretty. It is too warm for boots (and will continue to be too warm for several months still!), but like so many other women, I have a love affair with shoes.
 

Can’t WAIT to wear these suckers out! Hehehehe.

Okay, my friends! I’m back. And ready to take on the world again! BWAHAHAHAAH! I took a wicked long drive yesterday and raced some more stupid teenages. I’m so badass. Yeah, right. I hope you guys are having a wonderful day. I am.

I don’t want to blog about the particular reasons I am stressed. They won’t make sense here and will require more explanation than I am willing to give. But. I’m stressed. I know this moment will pass, and I’ll be over this issue in the future, but it just really sucks right now.

Hehehee. The monkey is my favorite animal. When I saw this one wandering around the resort, hitting up stupid tourists and getting them to pay exoribitant amounts to take a picture with it, I JUMPED at the chance. Sucker.

I’m doing terrific on my post-vacation plans! I can almost feel myself entering the easy part of all this. I mean, it’s never REALLY easy (for me!) to workout and eat squeaky clean, but there is a period after the initial 2 week period where it becomes much easier to turn down the good eats, and keep up with the workouts. I am probably about 5 days away from entering that zone. I can’t wait to be there!

I ordered some shoes from Nike online. They have a cool feature where you can design your own pair, and they take about 6 weeks to make it into your hands. Mine finally came! How adorable are these??!

Yes, I am SUCH a girl. I love all things pink, pretty, polkadotted, and er.. other p-words! It’s going to be a good week!

Today was my second time being back at the gym since I got back last week. It took me several days to work up the nerve to go to the gym as that is where I frequently see the person who is no longer my friend. I knew it was going to be awkward, and I was dreading it horribly. After my email, she replied back, asking what she could do to change so we could remain friends, and I replied, saying that it wasn’t a matter of what she could do. After all, she is who she is… and you don’t become friends with a person with the intention of trying to change them. That would certainly not be my place - and I could not stand seeing her live her life like that. I have since found out that she has some residual damage from a car accident that happened to her in her teenage years, and it has affected the way that she processes information and her understanding of people/situations. For instance. This guy text messaged her a while ago, and wrote a very disturbing, violent message to her. It creeped the fcuk out of me. Honestly. I got goosebumps when I read it because it freaked me out so badly. I told her, "L, that’s REALLY messed up." And she replied, "I KNOW! He can be kind of strange sometimes!!", and she giggled.

Umm.

Folks, the text message was about some violent fantasy he had of commiting rape. With a VERY underaged child they saw in a mall.

WTFWTFWTFWTFWTF.

But L doesn’t get how f*cked up it is to even THINK about stuff like that, let alone vocalize these thoughts to another human. She is dating this gem as we speak.

Sooo. Yes. Her understanding of people, nonverbal cues, and situations is impaired. Since I found out about her limitations in perceptions, I briefly toyed with the idea of letting her into my life again, if only because she is at SUCH a disadvantage with people (namely men). But the idea was short-lived as I knew I could not keep trying to help someone who Will not and CANNOT understand people. When I have said something like, "DUMP THAT LOSER! Don’t even talk to him!!!", to L about the shining example of humanity from above, she does not think I am being fair. She even implied I was saying those things because I was jealous of her. *Sigh*. I am SO sad for her.

Ahhhhhhh. Deep Breath. But life will go on. So today was back at the gym! I worked out and saw this one lady I see several times a week. She has a very thick Vietnamese accent, and after she stared at me for a bit, she blurts out, "You got a bit fat!". This person who was changing close to us overheard the comment and gasped a bit. LOL. She very discreetly turned away but I knew she was craning to hear what I would have to say to such a direct comment. The truth is I did gain a few pounds over my trip, (and 2 pounds even before the trip!), so she was not telling me anything I didn’t already know. I know how the pounds got there, and I know how to take them off! LOL. So I looked at her, smiled, and said, "I think I look wonderful!". I truly do! My body is healthy, strong, and even though I am a few pounds heavier than where I would like to be ideally, I still look great! She looked surprised at my response, and seemed to be at a loss for what to say to me, so she turned away and got back to her things. The lady who was eavesdropping had finished changing by then and was getting ready to leave. But as she walked past me, she gave me a big smile. I returned her smile. And it reminded me to get a move on with my goals!!!!

So for July, I will be at the gym at least 22 times. 2 down, 20 to go! I will have no cheat meals for the first half of July, and will have one cheat meal every week thereafter. I will post a progress picture that includes my abnominal area (the true marker of my progress!) no later than August… er… 30th. LMAO!! Yay! It’s going to be a good month!

And while I said goodbye to a new friendship, I have met another two ladies who make me believe that it really *is* going to be okay. Life is good.

Edited to add! I JUST started REDuction yesterday, in response to the rave reviews that Laurie and some others have had to it! It was a bit bizarre though - I had trouble sleeping yesterday and normally, I never have a problem. Weeeeeeeird, especially since others have reported sleeping like a BABY while taking it! No REDuction in my enormous, man-like appetite, though. Let’s see how this goes!

Check out this contest!! As far as I’m concerned, they’re ALL winners for making and posting a video clip of themselves like that! But I am rooting for one meanie in particular.

I had several opportunities to practice my faltering knowledge of Spanish, and luckily, everyone there was SO SWEET and NICE that they didn’t mind when I blundered at all! I already miss how cheerful and happy everyone is over there!! They do their work with the BEST attitudes!

The beach was gorgeous!

The ocean is such a stunning shade of blue, and I spent much of the week just laying on a chair, staring at the ocean. If you drive about an hour from here, you get to see some ocean. But it’s brown and oily with swimsuit staining abilities. The one in Playacar was MUCH nicer.

I had a few activities planned for my week there, but I skipped them all, with the exception of my day trip to Chichen Itza. Instead, I relaxed in the sun almost every day, and napped lazily, basking in the sunshine!

It was EASY to relax when there were so many distractions! The food at the hotel was amazing, and I will have to workout EXTRA HARD to get rid of the vacation inches that came home with me!! Hehehe!

After the first few days of doing absolutely NOTHING, it was time to venture out for a bit! Chichen Itza called my name, and I went to visit one of the new seven wonders of the world! It was blisteringly HOT. We only spent about 3 hours outside, but the heat combined with the humidity was almost enough to make me pass out. Like a big wuss, I had to sit part of the tour out in ‘time-out’.

After Chichen Itza, we went to visit a Cenote, which is a natural sinkhole with rainwater collected inside of it.

It was dark, cool and beautiful inside! We were enoucraged to swim in the Cenote, but they had these gigantic fish swimming near the surface, and I was too squeamish at the thought of possibly touching them. Gross!!! So I walked around and took some pictures.

Getting back to the hotel was such a relief! I was so tired, hot and sweaty, I immediately decided not to go through with any of my other planned excursions! The next day, I woke up early and decided to go watch the sun rise on the beach.

Breathtaking.

The entire week there was fabulous. I am slightly sad to be home, though, as I have to face up to some of the stuff that was hanging over me before I left. I must admit that I was a bit of a coward, and skipped my workout today because I was not ready to face my friend that I recently ‘broke up’ with. I am going to use today to build my courage back up and get back in there tomorrow, confident with the knowledge that I AM DOING THE RIGHT THING!

… right?

RIGHT!

Smiles from Playacar…